If you want to play standard, no-frills Apex Legends in the latter half of April, I hope you’re up for ranked. Respawn is getting experimental through the end of Mayhem, and we’re getting two full weeks of unusual game modes in place of the normal playlist. Each mode will only last for a few days at a time, but these War Games modes will be your only option outside of ranked for the duration.
When War Games starts on April 13, the first takeover will be Second Chance, which grants everyone one free respawn in each match. On April 15, we get Ultra Zones, which brings multiple hot zones per match that’ll spawn healing bubbles inside. On April 19, we get Auto Banners, which will let players respawn their teammates without collecting a banner card.
On April 21, Killing Time rotates in – this one makes the match shorter every time a legend dies, so you’ll be racing against the ring whenever a pile of kills roll in. The final mode is Armor Regen, which will start to automatically restore armour after an eight-second delay, at a rate of 12 points per second. This one will last from April 23 to April 27.
The aim here is better matchmaking, according to design director Jason McCord. “Having more players playing in the same queues does amazing stuff to the game ‘feeling’ better. Separate LTMs just split people off. Those queues are smaller, which makes them take longer to start and the matchmaker can’t do its job as well.”
Overall I think players will enjoy the modes we cooked up. They change every few days, so try them all and tell us what you think!
If you don't care for them, remember Ranked is still classic Apex.
Thanks for reading, if you got this far!9/9
— Jason McCord (@MonsterclipRSPN) April 8, 2021
You might want to pay special attention to Killing Time, as well – McCord says this one’s been due for a test for ages as an effort to solve “oddly paced games”.
You can get full details on the new modes on the official site. And for more battle royale games, you can follow that link.